dragon age the rising
by psychosythe
Summary: a story about my character's from dao and da2 and my idea as to my dudes son from dao will have to face for his destiny that morrigan mentioned
1. Chapter 1

*disclaimer no I do not own dragon age or bioware or ea this should count for the whole story since its well a story*

*just for the record a few things will be changed around in this fanfic thats because it's a fanfic it won't be anything major but if anyone see's any plot holes let me know reviews would be appreciated*

DRAGON AGE THE RISING

Chapter 1

A letter

Kenshen sat reading an official looking letter at the edge of his and Morrigan's camp he considered it quite an achievement that the messenger had tracked them down considering they had been on the move raising their child,who was now approaching his 7th birthday though Kenshen thought to himself "half the time I can't tell if he's 7 or 7000" due to the fact that his soul was the soul of Urthemiel the archdemon that kenshen slewm his magical talent was unmatched as was his intellect though he was still 7 years old,very mature true but still 7 years old. This child now stood a few feet away from him skinning and gutting a large deer he had killed and throwing the non edible parts to Reaver,Kenshen's large mabari war hound,now they both looked at him curiously

"whats the letter say?" Urthemiel inquired.

"It's a letter from the king of ferelden he wants me to come to Weisshaupt and help them decide on some new treaties" Kenshen answered only half paying attention,he was trying to recall were weisshaupt the Grey warden headquarters was located.

"have you finished reading your ever so important letter?"Morrigan asked with heavily placed sarcasm as she walked back into camp.

"Aye" Kenshen answered then asked

"do you remember were weisshaupt is located?"

"The Grey warden headquarters? I believe ti's located in the Anderfells is it not? why do you ask?" Morrigan answered and asked giving Kenshen that look she often gave him when she was trying to discern the twisted paths his thoughts often took.

"Because I intend to go there and help Alistair negotiate some new treaties" he answered

looking up at her mentally bracing himself for the tide of scornful bitchiness and rapidly imagining responses to both insult and inquisition that he had come to expect when discussing civilized topics with her,what he did not expect however was the slightly concerned note in her voice which would have been well concealed from anyone besides him and Urthemiel.

"This must be a trap laid by the chantry you know" Morrigan shot "they have been hunting you since you and your friend Anders killed all those templars after you resigned as warden commander."

"I recall one of those guys did the funniest twitch after I hit him with lightning" Kenshen said with a small snigger. It was true the chantry had sent both him and Alistair threatening letters demanding that Kenshen step down as warden commander after one of the recruited templar spies 'accidentally' swallowed a bottle of demonic poison. Strangly enough it was the same templar who 'accidentally' dropped an acid flask on the head of a newly recruited mage rumored to be a malificar.

The letter stated that Kenshen must step down as warden commander immediately because it was the maker's will that no mage should ever hold a position of power,he had to admire their nerve sending him that even after he stood in front of the grand cleric and declared to her that he thought the chantry was "a corrupt power obsessed incarnation of greed only in power because it fed on peoples superstitions by feeding them the absolute load of mabari shit that was the chant of light".

He been considering leaving anyways since the blight was no longer a threat he had stayed to help rebuild Amiranthine and Vigils keep but it was practically done anyways all that was left was the figures which he was Maker awful at. Then on the on the night he was to leave with Anders and justice they were attacked by the only 2 templar wardens and about 13 regular templars,all cut down with relative ease except for a problem with Justice.

His head fell off Kristoff's body had been rank for awhile so one good jerk was really all that was needed to send the head flying off and Kenshen laughed his ass off at it for whatever reason. Anders and Justice however panicked and in that moment of panic justice fled into the body of Anders.

Kenshen's words had been

"absolutely fascinating I've never seen someone possessed by a spirit instead of a demon I suppose it's an abomination but an unheard of one".

Ander's words had been "Makers lyrium infused saggy left nut what did you do Justice".

And so Anders and justice fled into the night and Kenshen stayed to return Kristoff's body to his wife and to write a letter to king Alistair detailing the attack by the templars and to avoid roasted cabbage. He had then said the goodbyes he hadn't the previous night and left Vigil's keep.

"nah they'll be after my cousin and his friends because they were the ones who really started this whole mess course he's in hiding as well" Kenshen

"interesting how they look to the ones they persecuted and robbed to rebuild their little empire" Urthemiel interjected in the sarcastic yet interested manner that he had inherited from his father.

"Well you can't blame them" Kenshen replied amused at the thought

"after they declared the mages guild was a league of malificarum and abominations set to lead the world away from the maker things really fell apart".

What Urthemiel had stated was true the mages guild that Kenshen had established after freeing the mage circle in ferelden from the chantry and merging it with the collective had recruited most of the magi who had fled their respective circles after the incident in Kirkwall, which was quite a few because 2 chantries had ordered rights of annulment shortly after said incident because of the rumors of an organized rebellion.

Many templars also left after this some left them to help these magi and try to find a compromise though many merely left to hunt magi freely,the Chantry did nothing to stop the ones who

hunted magi however and there were rumors that the chantry was paying bandits and mercenaries

to attack and if possible torture magi to the point of possession those rumors proved to be true unfortunately though very few people outside the guild knew. However though there were witnesses to these crimes that were actively spreading this news though many were kept quiet by the threat of eternal damnation their local chantries held over them.

At some point the Chantry decided it should try to recruit the hero of Ferelden and the champion of kirkwall and their companions and use them as a figurehead to rebuild their power and bring order back to the world that had fallen so deeply into turmoil.

The chantry was certainly right about one thing the world had certainly fallen into of the rogue templars and rights of annulment kings and some nobles had sided with the chantry while the majority of their nobles had sided with the magi as a result several civil wars and attempts of rebellion erupted but mostly it didn't sink violence but stayed in the realm of politics,and brutal politics they were,assassination and blackmail became almost as common in the the rest of Thedas as in Orzammar and Kal-Sharock,and even worse the Imperium had tried to give military assistance to the guild and in so let the qunari slip through to the rest of Thedas adding further to the chaos.

The only good thing about it was that more and more countries seeking order were starting to consider adopting the republic ideals mainly invented by the great philosophers Nicolo markasen,Ceasre dirk and franksin nicarmenden some years previously.

Kenshen had been at the council along with 36 other philosophers gathered by Allistair to create an ideal form of government shortly before the Kirkwall incident there were also 11 members of the chantry and nobles who had no business being there but Allsitair had invited as a matter of courtesy. Kenshen thought the plan absolutely ingenious unfortunately all the assembled nobles opposed it vehemently because it took away their power and the chantry labeled heresy because it called for the removal of the Chantry from the goverment together they had just enough sway to make sure the new form of government wasn't adopted though Alistair had begun subtly changing,canceling and passing new laws that were shifting Ferelden steadily towards it .

"Well then you must intend to leave and never return because it takes at least 3 months to travel from western Antiva to Weisshaupt so I don't know how you intend to locate us once your gone."

Morrigan told him waspishly even as she looked away.

Kenshen replied tentatively "Well you know that hand mirror I gave you-well I placed a tracking spell on it similar to the one on the ring you gave me holding up his left hand showing the plane gold band on the 4th finger of his left hand

"And you did this without telling me?" Morrigan inquired agrily

"slipped my mind" Kenshen answered back truthfully though humorously,

"well are there any other enchantments on any other of my things hm?" Morrigan demanded with death in her eyes

"let me think hhhhmmmm wait yeah there's another one on the mirror it will allow me to speak with you through it if I cast a spell I invented over a reflective surface" Kenshen replied while standing up and stretching his legs.

"Wait why do you intend to walk directly into a trap obviously set by the chantry to capture the hero of ferelden and use him as a mascot" Uthemiel asked suddenly before his mother had a chance to murder his father.

Kenshen's lip twitched in annoyance he bitterly hated being called the hero of ferelden simply because it was an empty title,people usually only met him with suspicion and fear after he survived slaying the archdemon because of the dark rumors the chantry circulated through their ears,even most of his fellow Grey wardens made it a point to avoid him because of it,well all except the Ferelden Greys he had recruited.

"Well I think the Mages guild could use a moral boost and I want to make the chantry look like idiots for the umpteenth time" Kenshen answered with a smile as He stood up started looking for his pack,

"You Urthemiel could come if you like" Kenshen said having found his pack and now picking up a few spare provisions

"A brief foray into the urban wilderness would do you both good"

"No I don't think it would because an apostate woman and her apostate son would draw templars like a carcus draws vultures" Morrigan answered back irritably."

"Nah just say the staffs a walking stick,bite your tongue and maybe pick up some normal people clothes" Kenshen jibed gesturing at the revealing robes she wore they were slightly less revealing and much less ragtag than the spare bits of stitched together leather cloth she used to where.

"Not to be rude Father but you don't really have any right to talk about normal people clothes" Urthemiel remarked

gesturing mockingly at Kenshens robes,which were odd indeed even for a mage not only because a layer of black high dragon hide had been sewn on top of the lyrium infused cloth that was actually a growing trend for the few arcane warriors,but because on the gloves and boots each had a plate of blood red super tempered volcanic aurum from the shell of an inferno golem sewn on them there was also a small chest plate made from the same material that he wore on top of the robes when traveling.

"True my son but I am a master of anonymity" Kenshen replied "but while we're on the subject of robes have you seen my boots"

"how do you lose those things they're like the size of Mother's attitude" Urthemiel exclaimed humorously

"might your flea-bitten war hound have hidden them?" Morrigan asked ignoring the quip from her son while looking over at Reaver who sat with his large head in Urthemiel's lap dozing peacefully

"Nah he won't touch them not after the time I rubbed qunari pepper juice on them" Kenshen responded with a smile recalling the event

"I can't imagine he found that appetizing" Morrigan remarked with a slightly malicious laugh

"He howled for 2 straight days but it kept him from eating my boots" Kenshen said having found his boots and now sliding his long feet into them.

Then suddenly a large cat stalked out from the underbrush that surrounded the camp a limp rabbit in its jaws and laid down and began eating,pointedly ignoring all of them. This wasn't an ordinary cat however,it was a bit smaller than a wildcat with a broad muscular body,large paws,long ears and fangs that hung down past it's lower jaws but the most stunning aspect of this animal was its magnificent coat a coat which was dark red,blue,green or gold depending on the angle it was viewed from. It also had trace amounts of every other color one could think of and small scattered black spots,this all worked together to create a completely magnificent was a fade cat as they had been deemed though having nothing to do with the fade but being from a realm beyond it. A fade cat whose mind and soul were bonded to Kenshen's as a result of him saving it's life while in the realm beyond the fad, now he reach out to its mind and said to it

"hello to you to Callidus."

Callidus then looked up at them all with his greenish-gold cat eyes and projected his thoughts to all of them

"I seem to have missed a rather large piece of news anything interesting?"

"Well I'm going to Weisshaupt to make the chantry look like idiots care to come?" Kenshen replied using the same method

"ah now that does sound interesting indeed I think I will accompany you as long as HE doesn't come along" Callidus hissed both physically and mentally at Reaver who had watched him intently since he had stalked into camp.

"well Morrigan and Urthemiel unfortunately won't be joining us so I don't suppose Reaver will be either" Kenshen sighed

"I'd like to come" Urthemiel muttered indignantly

"Come on now your mothers the better care giver,you have to stay with her if we separate for any amount of time" Kenshen replied in a tone that made it clear he wished it were otherwise

"though you could try to persuade her to come." he murmured

"Kenshen don't put the boy up to tasks he can't accomplish" Morrigan interjected

"well you never know the boy might surprise you" Kenshen replied with a wink at Urthemiel

then shouldered his pack and slipped his staff and great sword into their respective sheaths and projected

"I've gotta piss then I'm ready to go what about you Callidus?"

Callidus looked down at the rabbit having eaten the leg muscles the eyes and the liver there wasn't really anything left he wanted on the rodent he projected a mental sigh and said

"I suppose, well goodbye to you all try not to die and the mongrel can have my scraps"

Reaver gave the fade cat a dirty look but started inching toward the carcass nonetheless.

After Kenshen returned from his piss said his goodbyes and stole a kiss from Morrigan they set off at a healthy pace. After they were a good ways out of the camp Callidus projected curiously to Kenshen

"Do you think Urthemiel will be able to persuade his mother to come?"

"Maybe" Kenshen replied casually "Morrigans pretty tough but I've managed to turn her semi-human at least and I taught him the method persuasion now it's a matter of whether or not he has the talent".

"True,you know I never would've thought of you as a family man Kenshen" Callidus said mildly.

"I neither did I not after all the death I've seen,all the creatures I've fought,all the things I've done but I guess all that experience what made me eligible for it" Kenshen said with a slightly nostalgic sigh

"well that and your insane love for that bitch and that abomination"

"aye but their my bitch and abomination."

Callidus produced a small series of jumping purrs that Kenshen interpreted as laughter then replied

"you know you never told me how you ended up the hero of Ferelden and enthralled with her"

"it's quite the long story"

"we've got quite a large amount of time"

"all right then I suppose I'd better start at the beginning."

*I do apologize if my structure or grammar isn't very good but I right when I have time so I don't have alot of time to proof read*


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Garrett sat underneath a large palm tree overlooking a pristine sandy beach after receiving his letter from the king of Ferelden summoning him to Weishaupt to help negotiate treaties between the chantry and the mages guild,something he considered a fruitless endeavor but he was almost certain Isabella,Fenris,Varric,Anders (if he was still alive) and Kenshen along with his dark haired sorceress whom he had only met breifly had been summoned and probably most of Kenshens old companions would also be attending so he couldn't miss that.

"there you are Hawke" Merrill panted after climbing the steep hill leading up to the cliff "I've looking everywhere for you"

"Oh sorry about running off like that I saw a hawk" he apologized he had been walking with Merril when he had ran off after the large bird.

Merrill had become used to this,since they had fled Kirkwall into the wilderness he had gone off chasing almost any animal he saw in order to learn to shapeshift into it shapeshifting had become his obsession now that he had so many animals to study.

"Well did you learn to shapeshift into it?" asked Merrill eagerly

There was a flash of white light and a large hawk now stood where Garrett had been sitting,It seemed to be slightly disoriented however because it tottered and fell over another flash of white light and Garrett was back picking himself up off his stomach.

"Ugh the telescopic vision threw me off" Garrett complained rubbing his eyes

Merrill just laughed and said "you'll get it next time"

"maybe you should try to shape shift again" Garrett chided.

"no I don't think it's for me" Merrill responded

recalling vividly the first and only time she had tried to shape shift.

It had been a week after Garrett had taught her the spell and the mental state required,she had shared many a memory with many different animals during her training as a keeper under Marethari. Merrill had taken Garrets advice and started with an insect and used the memories she had gleaned from the mind of a butterfly some years previously. She cast the the spell that allowed her physical body to transform and plunged her mind into the fade and envisioned those memories,the way a breeze traced across her wings,the taste of a flower on her 6 feet,ducking and dodging a bird as it had swooped after her these memories and sensations had allowed her to stop thinking of herself as an elf Merrill was a butterfly.

Suddenly she saw the blades of grass enormous and reflected in her compound eyes accompanied by the sudden strong taste of dirt from her feet,and before she could recover from the overwhelming shock of the initial transformation a large gust of wind blew and lifted her off the ground and she began to panic she landed on a giant,leathery tasting something and quickly ripped her mind back from the fade and into her own body,a fraction of a second later horror and renewed panic gripped her as she realized she hadn't cast the spell of changing before leaving the fade,she began to reach for it again when she realized someone was shaking her slightly and calling out to her rather loudly

"Merrill,Merrill,MERRILL!"

With a gasp Merrill opened her eyes gulping in breath,her heart thundering inside her chest with Garrett staring down at her his bright red eyes alight with concern. She looked around her sight was normal, whole and undivided and the stream of flavors that had emanated from her feet had ceased her 2 feet which she realized with a jolt were hanging in the air the rest of her however,where in Garrett's strong thin arms he lay her down on the grass gently still holding her head up in his arm while the other one reached around and grabbed a leather skin from his belt which he held to her lips

"come on drink up drink up" he murmured soothingly.

Merrill still gasping and trying to slow her heart rate took the skin by the neck and poured half the contents down her throat almost immediately she had felt a comforting warmth bloom within her stomach,she looked up at Garrett and grabbed him 'round the neck,he flinched slightly as he always did when she grabbed him unexpectedly but he held her and rocked back and forth on his knees whispering comforts into her ear until her breathing receded to it's normal tempo and she had stopped trembling and she loosened her grip.

"Oh Hawke that was so horrifying" Merrill quaked

"you should have told me you were going to try it" Garrett lectured her gently "I would've kept you from panicking like that"

"I-I think I need to go to bed" Merrill stammered as she slid slowly from his grasp and crawled into their bedroll,he had joined her soon afterward and had held her and stroked her hair until she had fallen into a fitful sleep.

"Oh this wouldn't be like that time love" Garrett said snapping Merrill back to the present

"why doesn't anyone anyone call me by my real name?" Merrill asked abruptly changing tact though whether or not she did it on purpose he couldn't tell

"Why whatever do you mean love?" Garrett asked back with a falsely stoic expression

"you call me love,Isabella calls me kitten,Varric calls me daisy the only person whose ever called me Merrill is Fenris and he never spoke to me that much anyways" Merrill rambled

"Nope don't know what you mean love" Garrett responded keeping his mouth hidden because of the prominent grin he had utterly failed to restrain.

"See you did it again" Merrill exclaimed pointing at him

"still don't have the slightest idea what your talking about love" Garrett choked out now having to stuff his mouth into his bicep to muffle the snorts of laughter that kept escaping him

"how can you not notice I mean I think Varric does but maybe I'm just-" she stopped mid sentence and turned to Garrett and started slapping his arm playfully as she exclaimed

"you did to know and you sat there and let me ramble to myself like an idiot oh I can't believe you!"

Garrett laughed while jumping backwards and tripped over a concealed rock Merrill falling right on top of him

"you are so juvenile" she giggled

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"definitely not" Merrill replied playfully and kissed him,

he rolled over pinning her underneath him she squealed and tried to wriggle away but he pulled her back a lustful smile on his face. Garrett locked his lips onto hers as he ran his fingers through her hair and down to her neck and began unwrapping her scarf,trailing his fingers down her spine and listening to her gasp. Moving towards the straps on her robes quickly unbuckling them and stripping them away,as his hands began to explore her body his mouth began moving down raking his teeth ever so slightly against her neck and down towards her bare breasts listening to her gasp and moan. Then he heard her whimper and she turned over on top of him a positively devilish look on her face

"now" she said impishly "let's begin".

An hour and half later Garrett lay there with Merrill dozing on top of him,she looked at him a lazy smile on her face

"we should get moving you know".

Garrett stretched like a cat and asked

"can we go one more time?"

"by the creators no" Merrill exclaimed huskily "another round like that and I'll have to lay here a week before I could get the energy to get up and move"

"I wouldn't complain" Garrett cracked with a grin.

"of course you wouldn't" Merrill grinned back "you are man"

"ah well you've got me there love" Garrett admitted as he pulled dark blue trousers back on

"why does everyone call me love or daisy or kitten or something else" she wondered aloud and she rolled over looking for her robes.

"because your cute" Garret replied "and people give cute people nicknames"

"maybe" Merrill said still looking for her robes

"and speaking of getting moving and being cute"

he picked up a bundle of robes he had hidden and started running down the hill out towards the beach

"catch me if you want' em back!" he called

"Garrett no!" Merrill exclaimed running down the hill after him laughing "give those back"

"you gotta catch me first" he laughed,

When she got to the beach she saw him at the edge of the water making to throw her robes into the water

"oh no you don't" she cried sprinting down the beach and making a dive for her robes.

Garrett lifted the robes over Merrill's outstretched arms and watched her soar into the water and land with a splash

he howled with laughter as she stood up sputtering

"oh I can't believe you did that" she exclaimed

"I can't believe YOU did that" He gasped laughing with tears in his eyes

"oh come here you" she said as she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into the water along with the robes, For awhile the splashed and played like teenagers they were just emerging from the water sopping wet and laughing when they heard a familiar voice.

"Well well well I certainly wasn't expecting to find this" Isabela smirked

Merrill let out a surprised gasp and lowered herself farther into the water with color blooming in her cheeks she still hadn't put her robes back on.

"Aw jealous you didn't get to join in on the fun" Garrett replied a grin

"yes" she pouted "I heard shrieking awile ago I thought someone was torturing a genlock".

Upon hearing this Merrill sunk even lower into the water her entire face now a brilliant shade of magenta,Isabela seeing this laughed and said

"I was just kidding Kitten though it does look like you two were up to no good"

"no good isn't the phrase I would use" Garret responded with a grin as he summoned his and Merrill's staffs from where they had left them and ran them through her soaked robes

"Isabela hold these please" giving her the the ends of the staffs

"what are you goint to do?" she asked

"a little trick I picked up from Kenshen" was his only response

he then raised 2 large pieces of stone as long as Merrill's robes and perhaps 8 inches thick he then bathed them in fire for about a minute and then stopped and exclaimed

"Behold the instadryer!"

Garrett then had Isabela hold the staffs as far away from her as she could then levitated the pieces of stone and clamped them over over the robes with a definitive hiss,he pulled the stones away after 4 seconds and gave threw them to Merrill who had come out of the water since Isabela had positioned herself with her back to it,Merrill had quickly buttoned the robes back on and they were pleasantly warm.

Garrett had then turned his robes inside out,his like his cousins had black high dragon hide stitched over the cloth,the robes had actually been a gift from Kenshen for having learned to be an arcane warrior,battle mage,shapeshifter and learning many other things besides shortly before they had went off in search of Morrigan and he had disappeared with her through the elven portal leaving him with a his codex,mabari hound,the key to a cache of rare drinks and items and extremely angry dalish elf ranting about her blighted book.

"We still need to get our things from the hilltop" Merrill reminded Garrett

"oh decided to get a change of scenery eh" Isabela asked slyly

"well actually-" Merrill started

"no need to go into details kitten" Isabela purred

"I thought you liked that kind of thing Isabela" Garrett chided

"only when they know what they're saying poppet" Isabela replied with a giggle.

After Garrett and Merrill had retrieved their gloves,boots,belts and camping equipment

Isabela piped up "oh Andraste's roasted tits I forgot I had Fenris and Varric with me I left them behind"

Garrett cocked his head and asked "how did you manage that?"

"well I went into the woods to relieve myself when I thought I heard your voices and I took off without giving them a second thought" she answered

"relieve yourself" Merrill asked innocently

"she means she took a shit love" Garrett responded with a grin

"ooohhh" she said understanding dawning on her

Isabela chuckled "well anyways we should probably find them before they have kittens"

"wait how would you leaving make Varric and Fenris have kittens" Merril inquired innocently once again though Garrett swore he saw the smallest of smirks appear on her face ever so briefly

"just an expression Kitten" Isabela laughed "though I think if ever Fenris managed to sneak up behind him..."

"okay 1 he would have to get past Bianca and 2 theres no way in the void he's..." Garrett trailed off

"think about it poppet" Issabela giggled "Merril,Aveline and I are the only women I've ever seen him with well if you could call Aveline a woman there are times when I have my doubts."

Before Garrett could respond he heard a smooth voice shouting through the underbrush

"dammit Isabela where did you go"

"allo Varric" Garrett greeted the dwarf as he emerged from the the trees and brush Fenris following shortly afterwords

the dwarf looked up at Garrett in dumb surprise surprise then his more stubbled than usual face split into a wide smile

"Hawke? wait Isabela is that why you ran off? hah Fenris was sure you had led us into some kind of ambush"

Isabela looked at Fenris with an expression of mock hurt on her face.

"Fenris do you really not trust me?"

"not in the slightest" he replied but with a small smile then asked

"wait did you ever figure out what was making that shriek"

Merrill let out a small utterly mortified gasp which made Garrett and Isabela snigger

Garrett clapped his hands together.

"Good now that we're all reunited except for Sebastian,Aveline and Anders maker only knows if he hasn't had a huge mental breakdown and blown up half of orleas by now we should get back underway to Wiesshaupt so onward!"

"for blood,glory and damn fine drinks"Varric added they all laughed and set out on their way again happy to be reunited.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Callidus remained silent at the end of Kenshen's extraordinary tale contemplating all that he had heard how it had changed him into the iron willed good humored but not shit taking man he now called master,how his use of love to attempt to manipulate Morrigan had poisoned him as well,how watching countless people and darkspawn die many bye his own hand had shown him the beauty in death in life and everything in between,how it had taught him the values of friendship,respect and sacrifice he had indeed changed a great deal from the cold,malicious sadistic boy he had been and probably still would be if Duncan had not come to his aid and recruited him,well that or dead probably dead.

"Well you certainly didn't come out of that little misadventure unscathed" Callidus quipped

"no I didn't though I think it smoothed over some of the rougher parts of my personality and kept me from spiraling any further into madness than I already have" Kenshen replied sagely

"madness" Kenshen thought to himself "I wonder how far thedas has really fallen into madness"

remembering his recent encounter with Varric who had mistaken him for Hawke and nearly been frozen,chopped into tiny pieces and eaten by Reaver,although he had still been kind enough to tell Kenshen of the delicate political situation in thedas something he had missed somehow on his occasional forays into a town they happened to pass or a merchant caravan they happen to bump into whenever they used an actual road when he had asked Varric at the docks of small village what shenanigans Garrett had gotten into to lead up to that fiasco he had thrown him a scuffed looking leather journal before boarding a ship hemmed by Isabela whom he had also met on a few occasions the journal contained the bare facts of Garrett's misadventures in Kirkwall as well as a passage that detailed his attraction to a raven haired dalish mage named Merrill.

"Meh you have a point" Callidus began then stopped and squinted,something that looked odd indeed on a cat.

"whats going on up there?"

"what I can't see that far" Kenshen responded Callidus quickly sent him an image of a burning village

"we should get up there and fast" Kenshen said

as he began channeling mana inwards to the various parts of his body to,his muscles to moves faster and with more force,his lungs to inhale more air and to increase the tempo,to his heart to increase it's beating so his body got the appropriate amounts of fuel,to his sensory organs to keep up with the increased speed and strengh and to his mind so it could comprehend the increased amounts of information rapidly passing through it and react faster than any normal person could dream of all this being experienced at once brought him a sort of buzz as well as the to urge channel more mana to his systems,he quickly blocked them out by plotting and formulating the type of enemies he would be facing and the best strategy to take them down.

"Callidus shape shift when we get there maximum lethality minimum collateral damage" Kenshen barked having gone into his commander don't screw with me mode

"I could use a bit of inspiration if you don't mind" Callidus complained

"fine" Kenshen allowed him to view memories of creatures he had fought careful to keep the manipulative creature blocked off from the rest of his mind

Callidus rapidly scanned the memories before settling on a revenant

"yes I think that will do just nicely" he purred as his extracted himself from his mind.

they arrived at the village to see Darkspawn and villagers fighting but not each other instead they were fighting creatures neither Kenshen or Callidus had ever seen before these creatures while completely obscured in their white steel armor where certainly not human,elf,dwarf,qunari nor any breed of darkspawn they were tall but to short to be qunari and their armor had 2 prominent humps in it on the back,but that was all he could tell in the chaos. He threw a carefully aimed fireball into a knot of the creatures before leaping into the fray his great sword harvester in his hands,forged using ancient dwarven methods and enchanted to channel magic as well as any staff with ancient elven techniques and forged in the style of an ancient and very light elven longsword called a katana though much larger and with more squared tip that was better for thrusting. The spine and sides forged from soft starmetal and volcanic aurum alloy that left it pitch black except for the glowing blue ruins running along it,the edge tempered separately and made of razor sharp, blood red and qunari skull tough dragon bone this potent mixture of ancient and almost lost forging methods left harvester light as a broad sword yet it hit with enough force to cleave through all but the thickest armor.

Kenshen spun swinging Harvester over his head and bringing him down on the upraised shield of one of the monsters slicing straight down from the top and halfway through it's arm,normally this would've continued down through the arm like wet paper and exited out the bottom of the shield,he was startled to see this wasn't occuring. Instead he sent a mana parasite into the wound with a good bit of lightning and one last slice with Harvester sent the monster staggering away the parasite sending it's energy outwards in a violent explosion,damn he loved the walking bomb spell.

As it was he continued ducking dodging swinging Harvester's deathly smooth edge through armor and only having it's potency blunted as all of the momentum was absorbed by the under armor forcing him to start swinging again this was awkward and tiring for him because entire style consisted of swinging Harvester and keeping him going in a circle to keep momentum so he got maximum impact for minimum energy. He realized after having swung at 10 of the creatures and only killing one he was going to have to burn through the exoskeleton,so he started sending flames across the edge of the weapon increasing the heat till they turned blue then concentrating them into one continuous stream across the edge and swung at the nearest one easily burning through the armor but it took half a second on the under armor and in that time he sustained a gash on his arm but the under armor gave way he burned straight through the soft flesh.

"take that shit sucker" he cried triumphantly while rapidly aplying a small bit of poltuce from a container on his belt to the gash.

A full 30 minutes later the duo saw the last one of these creatures fall the villagers and guard were all dead or gone and most of the Darkspawn were dead as alpha was still alive however and walked up to him and said with the raspy voice and prominent lisp most talking darkspawn had,granted most talking darkspawn didn't have lips.

"We are being grateful for your arrival Warden" she rasped "My brothers and I were unprepared for these monsters if you had not come we would all be being dead"

"I see my reputation proceeds me as always" Kenshen responded with some amusement "but you are welcome my lady you should attend to your lost brothers while I tend to the wounds of my companion and I and see what we're fighting."

The big hurlock nodded and stalked back over to her troops and started barking orders while Kenshen went to inspect Callidus. he had returned to his usual fadecat form and frankly looked like he had been dragged through a horde of starving fire ants as Kenshen told him,his fur was ruffled and ragged due to the amount of small wounds he was covered in none of them looked especially serious except for one over his eye but he patched them all up anyways he couldn't risk the wounds getting infected the cat was from another dimension after all so he probably couldn't fight thedan diseases well if at all. Though it took all Kenshen's poultices which meant he had to leave a few small wounds open on himself any others however were cauterized that had been much more painful than any of the actual wounds but Antiva was warm and humid perfect for jungle rot and with him being from the frigid climate of Ferelden he didn't think it would be wise to test his immunity.

Kenshen having tended all the wounds he could despite his complete inability to do healing magic or any creation magic for that matter. At the moment however he was draining leftover energy and mana from the corpses using his entropy magic which was where most of his talent lay actually.

"Don't you have potions that can do the same thing and quicker" Callidus asked him Irritably,

angry at having sustained so many wounds during the fight and now he couldn't even smooth his beautiful coat because these damned poultices were plastered to him.

"Yes but these corpses are fresh and I'd hate to be wasteful" Kenshen answered rather maliciously

Callidus snorted in response a very odd sound coming from a cat and went to investigate these enemies that had taken them so long and so much effort to beat,with one claw he cut away the straps that held it's mail on and hissed with surprise as it fell away

"what did you find ehhhhh that's disgusting" Kenshen remarked with a grimace

staring down at the horrifying remains that lay before him cased head to foot in a shiny black shell with knees that faced backwards and elongated curved heels it had a wide head had a small crest on the top and a short, thick beak with mandibles on the sides kind of like a beaked locust it also had purple markings around the eyes,bulging eyes twice as long as a humans so long they stretched all the way around to the temple they were also completely lidless but as he inspected further he noticed they weren't eyes at all they were merely openings on the exoskeleton,to see the eyes he was going to have to dissect the disgusting creature. Though first he wanted to continue his superficial examinations before he got covered in the moldy blue greenish colored blood that was so hard to clean from his blade and armored robes.

After taking various samples of tissue from the shell,the barbed purple tongue,the claws and the horns Kenshen decided it was time to dissect one of the creatures. He looked for one that wasn't completely mauled or sliced into ribbons by the surgically precise edge of Harvester,as he looked through the corpses beginning to think Harvester and Callidus had done their jobs a bit too well,as he was looking he noticed that there were about 20 of the creatures corpses vs. the 12 visible templars and from the looks of the pyres on the outskirts of the village about 25 of about 40 darkspawn

"damn" he thought to himself grimly "they don't go down easy."

With Callidus's assistance Kenshen finally found one with only a shallow gash across it's arm he took it into the chantry, cleared off the alter and threw the corpse onto the makeshift operation table,though it was so tall most of it's legs fell off the end.

"How do you intend to cut through that shell" Callidus asked having used his revenant from to pull a pew up to the alter and now sat watching him like some bizarre medical student.

Kenshen did not answer but sparked a flame on his left index finger and focused it till it was dark blue and constant,and gently sliced through the shell on the head what he saw was moderately disgusting. The flesh was a sickly Grey color similar to lobster or crab which he being a native to Ferelden had never been fond of now he thought he'd never be able to look at it again.

The crest it seemed, was only part of the exoskeleton he noticed it wasn't connected to the flesh,as for the eyes there were 4 of them on the front of it's face and 4 on the back but it seemed only the lower pair on it's face where the only ones fully developed. It's mouth also seemed undeveloped he could see the beginnings of another beak. Further dissection showed the humps in the back of the creature

were developing wings they seemed to be the most developed part of the creature,but the most interesting part was that it seemed to have 2 hearts,4 lungs,2 pairs of what seemed to be a gizzard like organ like birds in their digestive tract based on the food and stones still in it as well as a few other unidentifiable organs and their developing duplicates.

"hm this seems like a pupae stage similar to what insects go through" Callidus observed

"my conclusions exactly"Kenshen replied not looking up " but look their muscles they're only thinly connected to the body inside the shell so its plausible they are detached when the creatures mature they probably only develop to the point of being usable then development slows considerably as nutrients are diverted to develop the secondary organs truly extraordinary"

"so they develop duplicate organs are they for use when they mature" Callidus speculated

"possible" he responded distractedly "but not likely only organs absolutely necessary for survival are being duplicated I think it's hard to tell most of these organs are completely new to me,but they probably serve as back up if the primary organs fail I'm going to have to dissect more subjects to obtain a real idea of what we're dealing with

he continued muttering to himself while cutting,extracting and taking samples of the creatures and making notes and sketches in a small book,a full 3 hours later his various tissue samples taken and preserved carefully,notebook stored away, a full body sketch and most prominent discoveries detailed in his codex he stood up and cracked the various stiff bones in his body.

Callidus awoke grumpy at having to sit on the pew with an ungroomed coat for so long while Kenshen played madman and cut these disgusting coppery smelling creatures into tiny pieces and preserved them in bottles

"finished now are you" he shot irritably

"yes I am" Kenshen replied with irritating cheer "now let's go we can still get a few hours of travel in before it gets dark."

Callidus growled annoyance but hefted himself up off the pew and trotted out beside his master the funeral pyers left the stench of burning darkspawn in the air and caused him to wrinkle his nose. The surviving fiends had probably left as soon as all the bodies were set fire to,as far as he knew they had no religion thus no funeral practices besides looting and burning all who fell.

"how did you know the Alpha was a female" Callidus inquired after a moment of thought

"huh" Kenshen said without thinking having been pondering what Morrigan and Urthemiel were up to. "oh her scalp"

"what do you mean" Callidus asked annoyed at his masters incomplete answers it bothered him more than usual because he was still grumpy about his coat (and withholding information was his job dammit!)

"exactly what I said" was the man's subtly amused reply

"you can't do that to me" Callidus said with an irritated hiss.

"why not? you do it to me" Kenshen teased

"yes but I can fill your tent with hairballs carrion and dead mice while you sleep" Callidus threatened

"you wouldn't put that much energy into something just because of an incomplete answer"

"do you really want to take that chance master"

"hm" Kenshen weighed the odds it was his use of the word master that worried him Callidus never called him that unless he had something nasty planned,he was also very curious and very immature so he wouldn't put it past the Fadecat.

"alright" he relented 'the most recognizable difference between male and female darkspawn is that the females grow patches of hair on their heads instead of being bald though they also have all the other...components of female anatomy but you can't tell under the armor "

"thank you" Callidus purred "and may I how do you know about darkspawn female anatomy" Callidus asked rather maliciouslu

"due to the most horrifying and unfortunate encounter with hurlock I have ever experienced" he replied

with a shudder

"ooooohhhhh what happened" Callidus asked seeing his advantage and pressing it

"you don't want to know" Kenshen replied "so I will tell you think of a female hurlock,chest plate straps snap and they don't where clothes underneath the armor".

Callidous shuddered and raised his hackles

"we will not talk about this again"

"agreed"

They walked in silence for awhile each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Callidus thinking back to when he had bound himself to Kenshen back in his own dimension.A place called Terra,he had been living as a rogue wanted and hunted by all other Caraban as they were called there as he was responsible for the death of their king. He had been attacked by some kind of fiend from the edge of the Forrest of Direnad the forest of the damned,as he lay wounded and dying there came from the shadows a man and his companion,but it was the man who commanded his attention a man with long black hair held out of his eyes with a black strip of cloth,large intense red eyes that looked capable of kindness and cruelty but most of all he sensed his air of calm authority,his incredible magical strength and intelligence. This man could save him,this man would meet his requirements for the contract ,his soul would be strong enough to survive the joining without twisting his mind,this man could be his master.

He had called the man over,sympathy but no pity sparked in his eyes when he beheld the dying Caraban which he noted with approval

"anything I can do for you you before you pass on" Kenshen had asked

"you could save me" the harsh desperate thought had echoed through the minds of of himself and Morrigan weakly

Callidus then added much more politely "if your in the market for a Caraban servant that is"

"hm a Caraban we don't even know hardly seems like a good servant" Morrigan had remarked with a note of disdain she didn't bother to hide.

"a funny talking apostate from a swamp hardly seemed like a good idea 3 years ago but I took a chance" Kenshen reminded her

Morrigan rolled her eyes in response then addressed the dying Caraban

"you seem to be dying and quickly too so how would losing your freedom save you"

"I can bind my soul to his and the contract would use his strength to heal me" the Caraban had rasped mentally.

Kenshen knowing full well how the contract worked he had to provide sufficient care and leadership and the Caraban would be his servant but it would devote vast amounts of time to breaking the contract, stretching the bounds of his orders and probably just being a general pain in the arse but he welcomed the challenge,now he would have someone else to have mental battles with besides Morrigan which he never got tired of really but a new competitor for his unofficial title of master manipulator would be welcome.

"you know how we Caraban sustain ourselves I hope?" He had asked sceptically

"by feasting upon the souls of the fallen and drawing upon their essences for strength yes I know how it works" Kenshen said casually as if he had asked him if he knew how the weather was "and don't worry we kill quite a lot of people so you won't starve."

"hm that may be but I would like to get at least a brief glimpse of the mind of the man whom I would be swearing my soul to " Callidus replied rather skeptically if a bit faint

"fair enough" Kenshen complied before Morrigan could protest he let Callidus get a glimpse of his mind allowing him just deep enough to see qualities and nothing else

The dying Caraban blinked weakly in surprise. This human wasn't from this dimension he could tell,but he knew of the Caraban that alone marked unusual intelligence since most natives of Terra knew little to nothing about them,there was also a complete lack of fear,a burning curiosity that contradicted the large amount of wisdom he possessed,along with a very open yet firm mindset he was confident in his answers and theories to things but was willing to reconsider with enough proof,there was something else he could sense it was like a twistedly gleeful,sadistic and oddly calm blood lust what he sensed madness. Callidus as convinced,this man would make a fine master.

"I still advise against this" Morrigan protested "we don't even know this creature"

"I doubt the creature will even be able to breathe unless I order him to after he's bound " Kenshen reasoned

Callidus had interrupted weakly "whats your name human?"

"Kenshen" he replied "and yours?"

"Callidus now let us begin"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Flinching and an encounter

Garrett ran a hand over the prominent Varric-ish stubble that had accumulated on his cheeks in the 3 days it had been since he had shaved,he considered growing a goatee on his chin just for a change of pace,but no mustache

"how are you supposed to eat with one of those bloody things" he asked himself .

"What are you thinking about Garrett" Merrill asked leaning against his shoulder as they walked

"how one would eat with a mustache without getting food in it" he answered

Merrill giggled and said "why don't you ask Varric?"

"Varric doesn't have a mustache"

"but he knows a lot of things he might know that"

"Varric is also full of crap"

"I can hear you you know" Varric called from a little ways back then returned to his argument with Fenris about why he would not stop calling him "elf".

The only one not talking to someone was Isabela she was staring at Hawke and Merrill with something between curiosity and envy she remembered how he shirked from any and all contact towards him and the time he had nearly taken poor Varric's head off when he had touched his shoulder,of course she also remembered the time she slept with him he hadn't been hindered then though she supposed he was just "blinded by lust" as he put it.

That was was also the time she had seen the scars,the ones on the shoulders weren't bad just small red blotches with white lines over them like he had broken the bone and someone had had to cut into his shoulder to set it there were similar ones on his legand ribs though the blotches were bigger,but the worst of them were on his wrists and ankles they were rings of deep lines in his skin like one only got from the constant chafing of manacles. His were much deeper though like he had fought and fought and tore his thin wrists and ankles open to the bones sympathy and curiosity about what he had done to get those scars had welled up in her,only to be swept away by renewed waves of lust and ecstasy. She thought about asking him about them afterwords but she could tell it would've been a bad idea though she never stopped wondering about them.

Shortly after his mother was killed by that madman (who's intestines Hawke cut out while he was still alive and used to hang him from a beam) Isabela got her answer,he had disappeared right after they had returned and had his mother cremated. They had decided to split up Varric searched Low town,Aveline and Fenris searched high town, Sebastian and Anders search the wounded coast and Isabela was with Merrill searching sundermount,they were the ones that found him sitting on a rock near the frigid peak fingers interlaced with his chin resting on them staring so intently at the ground between his feet it should have long since burst into flames.

"Hawke" Isabela said tentatively,no response

"Garrett" Merrill said a bit louder but no less tentatively

His head snapped up startled by the use of his first name

"ah you've found my secret place of grieving wonderful" he said with his usual sarcastic demeanor "now go back to Kirkwall I'll be back tomorrow after I'm done grieving."

" Do you erm want to talk about it" Isabela asked uncertainly

Hawke sighed and replied dryly "no but if I've learned anything from Fenris I'm going to anyways"

Isabela and Merrill sat down on rocks of their own as he began to speak in a flat dispassionate monotone

"I have a total of 6 family members of them 4 are dead and 3 of those deaths I'm responsible for so the guilt is starting to wear on me"

"your mother dying wasn't your fault" Isabela protested

"neither was Bethany" Merrill added

Hawke raised a skeptical eyebrow "oh really my sister I drug down into the deep roads and because of that she contracted the taint so I had to cut her throat myself, my mother because I told her to look for a man instead of trying to arrange a marriage for me because I was irritated about it so she met that madman who turned her into a stitched together abomination and my father" he stopped there

"what happened to your father?" Isabela asked her curiosity overpowering her concern

"Isabela he doesn't have to tell us" Merrill hissed mortified that she would ask him that now of all times

Hawke drew a great slightly shaky breath "it's all right you've both seen my scars and I know your both curious so I suppose I should start at the beginning"

"wait Isabela knows about them to" Merrill blurted out before she could stop herself

"I slept with him before you did kitten"the pirate replied unable to keep the wolfish grin off her face

"anyways who's slept with who aside" Hawke cut in irritated that that had come out into the open.

"The whole mess started when I was 9 I think Bethany and Carver both were sick and bed ridden and while my parent's attention was on them I had wondered off to practice more magic this drew the attention of 2 templars who were nearby they were from the free marches and were hunting my father and his apostate children they knocked me out,shackled me and proceeded to interrogate me for the location of my family,and by that I mean they let my struggle till I tore my limbs to the bone struggling against my restraints and broke most of my ribs kicking me with those armored boots,then they broke my shoulders and shins so I couldn't keep struggling"

he paused for breath then observing the look of horror on Merrill's face and grim understanding on Isabela's he knew she had seen similar acts.

"the worst of it came that night,one of them ah...well to be blunt raped me up the arse" he had to pause again to let Isabela gasp slightly "that's' why you won't let anyone touch you"

though unexpectedly there was no response from Merrill she just sat wide eyed and shocked looking. He was about to start snapping his fingers in her face when her normally bright eyes were filmed with tears

"oh Hawke I'm so sorry" she whispered

he grimaced and with a with an attempt at his usual sarcastic demeanor "you look like you suffered more than I did and no Isabela that's not it it's because people have tiny bits of electricity on their skin that I'm very sensitive to so it shocks the crap out of me every time someone touches me"

"just shut up and continue the story" Isabela replied

"yes well after that I freaked out and started shooting bolts of energy at anything I could swing my arms at one of those bolts hit my father and tore him up pretty good after he killed the templars for his heroic rescue he healed us both up,strapped me to his horse which I was not happy about and we rode like demons fleeing Andraste herself till we got back to everyone else and got moving again then everyone had to get used to the idea of no more touching Hawke and we lived happily ever after the end"

"so that's it,the mystery behind this" Isabela said as she reached her hand out towards him and he instinctively moved back

"Isabela stop it" Merrill said distractedly apparently still processing the story

"yes it is and if you tell Varric,Fenris,Anders,Sebastian,Varric or any other man I will bring the boot of the Maker himself down and use it to grind you both into dust now go back down the mountain"

"why did you say Varric twice" Merrill asked

"because he wants to make doubly sure we don't tell him" Isabela replied with amusement

"right because if Varric knows all of Kirkwall knows and I want to keep my pride as a man intact now back down the mountain with you go on go"

"not without you" Isabela replied determinedly

with a resigned sigh Hawke admitted "I was afraid of that,then your going to have to drag me down the mountain because I've been sitting on this rock for about 4 hours so I can't feel my legs"

Isabela and Merrill had both laughed at that and taken a wiry arm each and wrapped them around their shoulders despite his flinching and squirming and proceeded to drag him down the mountain. He had limped around for 3 days after that when anyone asked him why he told them he had the worst case of chair arse ever known and kept limping.

Garrett held out his arm to stop Isabela apparently lost in thought she bumped into his arm with a small yelp of surprise Fenris quickly held of a finger for silence then pointed to a dip in the road about 2 bowshots away they could see a dalish caravan and it was under attack,but by what they couldn't tell.

Once they ran closer and luckily hadn't been noticed they saw what they were about to face,they didn't look like anything Garrett had ever were all concealed in white steel armor but were taller than any man but shorter than any qunari and there were odd humps on their backs

"Merrill can you pin them in with an earthquake while I work up a blizzard" Garrett asked drawing his broadsword and dagger

"there are Dalish scattered among those things the spells would hurt them to" she replied urgently

"damn well then I suppose we should just go for the classic charge then since we're at their flank" Garret said with bloody cheer "usual strategy Varric,Merrill back us up while Fenris and I run in screaming like madmen to draw their attention as Isabela slips in and takes out the commander from behind"

"not if Bianca gets him first" Varric remarked loading her with a bolt with a miasmic flask tied to it.

"I'll take that challenge Isabela" replied

All at once Garrett and Fenris charged out as Varric and Merrill started shooting bolts and lobbing spells while Isabela used the commotion to flank the group,which from her guess was about 18 strong against the 5 of them.

"the odds are stacked against them here" Isabela thought to herself as a confident grin spread to her face

That grin quickly changed to a worried frown as she observed the battle. Fenris had intended to use his tattoos to phase through most of them and drag out their organs and tear the rest to pieces with his great sword,however it appeared the the creatures were lyrium-proof they had some kind of shell under their armor that he couldn't phase through he quickly noticed Hawke's spells weren't doing any damage either.

"stop throwing spells at them" he called "their shells are magic proof"

Hawke swore then repeated the message to Merrill and continued his fight.,And a tough fight it was these things were big,strong and well trained the white steel chain-mail wasn't to big of a nasuance it was the shell underneath that caused the problem,Not only was it magic proof but it was incredibly tough.

Garrett ducked a swipe from one of the creatures that was using what seemed to be a 7 foot spear with a 2 foot blade and swung at another's grieved shin his broadsword hit its mark and stuck in the shell,cursing he yanked it out and spun while using his sword to guard his other hand as he spun the dagger about in it so the blade face backwards and stabbed backwards underneath the beak (not chin he realized with a start) until he felt the blade sink 3 quarters of the way in then yanking it out without hesitation and flipping it back forwards to use it to send an oncoming sword sliding down the blade and off the rounded guard,that accompanied with the kick to the shins he delivered at the same time sent the creature stumbling forward with a broadsword laying open it's back.

Out of reflex Garret sent a bolt of lightning at the staggering wounded creature,what started out as a curse directed at his own stupidity turned to a cry of delight as the saw the lightning enter the wound and it collapsed twitching then became still.

"Merrill" he called

"I'm hear" she called back

"magic only works on the bastards if they're wounded" he responded and knowing what would come next "just aim for the ones with blood on them love"

"wait they've all got blood on them" Merrill shouted concern coloring voice

"wait" he looked as he half decapitated one then his sword stopped "their blood is blue-green"

"ew"

was all he could hear from her then one creature with a bolt from Bianca in its shoulder was ripped to shreds as its blood turned into razor sharp spikes,Garrett wasn't very fond of blood magic but damned if it didn't come in handy!

Now that they knew they could use spells on the wounded ones which seemed to be all of them they went down relatively quickly.

"whew that was one helluva fight" Isabela said cheerfully rejoining the panting group

Garrett took a deep breath and asked "how many of them did you actually attack anyways"

"oh well you know a few" Isabela replied airily not bothering to hide the grin on her face

Garrett merely turned away and went to talk to the remaining 4 elves Merrill and the others following close behind once they got close the elves came out from inside the triangle of caravans they had made,and one of them had white hair and an intricate tattoo of a tree on his forehead.

"Mahariel" Merrill whispered whispered to herself "ma-" she started to cry but was stopped by an upraised arm and a tragic shake of Garrett's head when she looked again she saw it wasn't him,this elf was older than Mahariel by a good deal,not old enough to have a full head of white hair but still much older than Mahariel.

Color blooming in her cheeks Merrill fell back beside Isabela in an embarrassed silence. The Dalish elves meanwhile had crept warily closer,the white haired one then spoke as warily as he walked

"we...thank you for the assistance of you and your companions shemlen"

"your welcome elvehn" he replied remembering how when Kenshen was teaching him the bits of ancient elven he knew he had told him if he ever met a dalish to call them elvehn instead of elves or elf

"they'll like you better for it" he had said

"not much of a difference is it" Garrett remarked

"it is to them" Kenshen had said with his trademark brand of waspish patients "it's what they called themselves in their empire before it was crushed by tiventer,of course they've been holding a grudge against humans for about 2000 years so you should consider yourself lucky if your not turned into a no- longer breathing quiver for their arrows on sight"

"so what happened?" Isabela asked

"they attacked us what more do you need to know shemlen" the dalsih replied coldly

"good to see the attack didn't make them lose that lovely dalsish hospitality" Varric muttered

suppressing a grin Garrett asked "where are the rest of your clan? I only see a few elven corpses"

"they took the halla and fled into the forest" the dalish answered back losing most of the coldness on Garrett though his tone was still guarded.

"need help rounding them up" Isabela asked in a friendly tone even as Garrett and Merrill cringed and the elves stiffened

"we can find them on our own shemlen"the dalish replied in a tone cold enough to freeze an ogre solid

"now please if you would leave us we must find our clan mates and mourn our dead."

"very well then"Garrett said then barked "come on you lot we can still get a bit of ground covered before nightfall". As they picked their way through the ruined Caravans and scattered belongings Garrett called over his shoulder "dareth sheral!" to which he got silence,not a good sign.

"what do you think made them so mad at me" Isabela wondered aloud

"when you said round them up" Merrill answered quietly from beside Garrett the only thing she had said in awile,which was odd for her considering how talkative she was and that she was reunited with her best friends whom she hadn't seen in months.

"huh?" Isabela replied confusedly

"when you a human said round them up" Garrett responded "to them it was like you were treating them like livestock or slaves their really touchy about that kind of thing"

"I can tell" Isabela said spitefully "pfft freaks"

"The Imperium used blood mages to slaughter and enslave their people" Fenris cut in with a hatefull glare at Merrill who,still in her gloomy funk ignored him.

"it was 2000 years ago Fenris" Garrett said shooting a venomous look at the elf who quickly dropped his glare "you'd think they'd have gotten over it by now"

"hm there's a town up ahead" Varric interrupted as much to keep Fenris and Garrett from starting another argument about elven slavery as to notify them all

"let's go"Isabela added "I'm sick of sleeping in-woah" she said as a violent explosion mushroomed from the center of the town.


End file.
